Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 8,743 Shares of Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its holdings in Western Digital Corporation by 24.5%, selling 8,743 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with 26,905 shares valued at about $1.72 million.
• Multiple hedge funds adjusted their positions in Western Digital, with significant growth noted by Signaturefd LLC, which increased its stake by 38.4%, reaching a total of 4,755 shares.
• Western Digital's stock has a market cap of $39.57 billion and was recently priced at $115.42, with analysts setting an average price target of $94.63, indicating a moderate buy rating.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its position in shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Free Report) by 24.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,905 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 8,743 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Western Digital were worth $1,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $292,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86,462 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,533,000 after buying an additional 4,435 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 38.4% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,755 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 49,212 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $3,148,000 after buying an additional 8,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 78.0% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,676 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 2,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark lifted their price target on Western Digital from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.63.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.6%

Western Digital stock opened at $115.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $94.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.08. The company has a market cap of $39.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.77. Western Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $137.40.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Western Digital had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.13%. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the sale, the insider owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,730 shares of company stock worth $3,921,594 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.

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